Not signed in (Sign In)

SkillShare - A place to discuss Web Standards and Web Design topics

Categories

Vanilla 1.1.4 is a product of Lussumo. More Information: Documentation, Community Support.

Freelancing: Freelance rates of pay

Bottom of Page

1 to 13 of 13

  1.  
  1.  permalink
    Hi Guys,

    I am looking to hire a freelancer in Vancouver Canada. Does anyone know what the going rate for a freelancer is now days?

    Thanks
  2.  permalink
    "One million dollars."

    --Dr. Evil
    •  
      CommentAuthormringlein
    • CommentTimeJul 15th 2007
     permalink
    Here is my two cents on what you should except (some will disagree):
    Freelancers, how to determine our rates?
  4.  permalink
    I've seen anywhere from $80-$120/hr for design, and anywhere from $40-$75/hr for production & development.
  5.  permalink
    I charge a flat hourly rate and go from there. I'm just starting out and haven't actually graduated as of yet so I charge $15.65 an hour. Plus I'm working in Vermont so it's not like I can charge lots anyway. Adjust that hourly rate accordingly for yourself.

    But once you have how much you want to charge per hour, do the math. Look at what the client wants and guess how much work it will take. Hint: XHTML and CSS page with no extra fancy stuff is going to take no time compared to that site with a CMS, Flash, or JavaScript work. As for guessing how long it will take, take how long you think you could do it in, and increase it by 50-100% so that you have extra time to trouble-shoot the problems that WILL arise.

    Now you have your happy number! Remember to tell the prospective client that this is only an approximation and not a set figure as it may take more or less time depending on the work required.
  6.  permalink
    So anywhere from $15 to $120 an hour. That ought to clear things right up.
    • CommentAuthorzotterdas
    • CommentTimeJul 16th 2007
     permalink
    The real answer is that there is no "going rate." No offense, but your question was a bit silly, or at least poorly thought out. You didn't even bother to tell us just what sort of freelancer you're looking to hire. That's going to play a big role in the price tag discussion. Not to mention factors such as: the scale of the job, whether or not it'll be an ongoing contract or a one-off job, the experience and caliber of freelancer you're looking for, and on and on.

    Freelancer blogs have ongoing discussions about what's appropriate for a freelancer to charge, and there is no universal answer. Give us a little more info, and maybe we can be a little more helpful.
  8.  permalink
    http://freelanceswitch.com/rates/
    •  
      CommentAuthormringlein
    • CommentTimeJul 21st 2007
     permalink
    Everyone asks this question and the answer is always the same -- no one fckn knows.

    It is simply supply and demand -- you have to figure out to how find that magic number on your own. There is no set value for what we do, it isn't like asking how much a can of Coke is worth. You can't say a website is worth $5,000.00, because I know a over a hundred people that will say differently the second you post it on Craig's List.

    You need to figure out what the minimum you can charge is ... what is the absolute lowest price you would do it for (even if the answer is free). Then you work up from there. Start charging clients 20% more than that, then go higher and higher until you notice more and more prospects going away because your price is too high.
  10.  permalink
    There is no set value for what we do, it isn't like asking how much a can of Coke is worth.


    Good point mringlein but being really pedantic, even a can of coke has no set value. Go to a big supermarket and it will be half the price of an out of town convenience store and that's before factoring in Pepsi and own brands!
    •  
      CommentAuthormringlein
    • CommentTimeJul 21st 2007
     permalink
    axe_sosharp,

    You make a good point -- my point was to say that we all have a general sense of what a coke is worth -- if we were to re-sell at a baseball game, we would know what was to little and what was to much.

    You could very easily justify a $15/hour rate as well as a $200/hour rate -- it all depends! But a can of coke will most likely never be less than $.25 and never more than $1.00, it should cost about $.65 -- if you get it for less then you are getting a good deal and if you pay more then you are getting taken advantage of.
    • CommentAuthoriDonny
    • CommentTimeJul 21st 2007 edited
     permalink
    Since Web design and development is a service, it is often difficult to easily decide what one should charge. Here are some things to bear in mind though:
    - Prospective clients looking for a bottom-line price without regard for other factors will always pick your low price
    - If you bend over backwards to get a job at any cost, the client knows that he/she is doing you a favour. You will have no dignity left, and you will probably spend extras time working on small additions to the scope.. i.e you will have no fair power in the deal
    - If you start low, you will stay low, cause it is difficult and impossible to charge $15, and then after 3 or 6 months when you feel disgruntled want to ask for $25 or $40. Research what your work is worth, think about the value of what you are doing (not what it costs you, cause for most of us, we would do similar things as a hobby/free)
    - When you undercut other bidders (fellow designers), and you own future with thrifty rates, you lower the value of the entire Web Development marketplace and it will come back to bite us all (Here is a related discussion - http://urlgreyhot.com/personal/weblog/polls/how_much_would_you_be_willing_to_pay_for_a_kick_ass_drupal_theme)

    Recommendations
    - Calculate what it costs you to stay in business including the annual cost of your computers, broadband connection, space, divide by the number of yours you work in a year
    - Decide how much you want to be paid per hour (this is easy, just look at the market rate for your skills at salary.com)... Entry level web designer is a minimum of $25 (you need to eat, hopefully buy clothes, watch TV, shower, etc)
    *1 Add the above hourly figures and you will have the base rate to break even and not run yourself into the ground
    - In order for your practice to grow, you need to make a profit so that in bad times you can pay your running costs, pay hosting for your site, keep a phone line etc ...
    - Use the figure from *1 above and add 15%-25%. That is the rate that I would recommend using. Do not be tempted to charge richer clients more money and throw-away rates for people who cannot afford your standard rate. Not-only is it unfair, but it gives you a false impression that you are working and busy, but you are just wasting your time making losses.
    - It is OK to negotiate preferential rates for repeat customers and clients that would pay you a retainer for long-term support.

    Remember
    - If a client shopping for bottom-line prices chooses a lower price and does not hire you, he/she is just getting what he is paying for
    - It goes without saying that you should work hard at what you do and uphold quality so that your work will speak for itself.
    - Be ready and happy to walk-away from a deal with your dignity in hand and an empty stomach, than to get the deal and feel cheap
    - If you charge unusually low prices, you are very likely to get disgruntled when you find out what the average going rate is. Not to make you feel bad, but if you look at the pricing guidelines for my freelance work - http://cmsproducer.com/drupal-template-design-pricing-guidelines , http://cmsproducer.com/search/node/pricing+guidelines and http://cmsproducer.com/realistic-unreasonably-competitive-web-design-development-production-project-pricing, you will notice that I am NOT charging $5 an hour. I went through a phase where I was charging very low prices just to get the satisfaction of having clients; but it came to bite me when I found out that the rates were not sustaining my business (I have a regular job to pay bills and buy food). Now, on average, I sign contracts with 5-10% of my prospects, but I am making more money. and I am more satisfied with how I spend my time. Clients that prefer quality will pay for it, and push you to improve your work quality and standards... you gain in more ways than the money. I can go on and on about this, but you get the idea
  13.  permalink
    my rate is 15-30 Euro/hour

    3 years asp.net C# experience

1 to 13 of 13

  1.  
Add your comments
    Username Password
  • Format comments as (Help)
 
Back to Discussions Top of Page